Has agriculture become burden on Karnataka government, asks ex-Speaker

Belagavi: Upset over the spate of farmer suicides in recent weeks, ruling and opposition party members put the Siddaramaiah government on the mat for not rushing to the help of the farming community.

Leading the charge was Congress member and former Speaker Mr R. Ramesh Kumar who demanded a change in the approach to the agriculture sector, JD(S) floor leader Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy wanted to consider overall productivity from the sugarcane sector while framing policies and not just sugar production.

Raising a pertinent question, Mr Ramesh Kumar asked: “This is not an industry, the government has not spelt it out yet. Has agriculture become non-productive and a burden for the government? All products in the market sell at more than the production cost but agricultural produce doesn’t,” he said.

Slamming the lending policy of banks to the agriculture sector, he said non-performing assets (NPAs) in PSU banks are more than Rs 1.8 lakh crore while bad debts are to the tune of Rs 1.64 lakh crore.

“Those who availed these loans are roaming around free and identified as dignified people in society while farmers are committing suicide unable to repay meagre loans. The government has identified farmers as small and large farmers for availing loans. Small farmers cannot afford a loan while large farmers will not get it,” he added.

JD(S) floor leader Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy said that as per government records, the total earnings from one ton of sugarcane even today is Rs 4,482. The factory gets 40 kg molasses and each kg of molasses produces 10 litre of alcohol. Each litre of alcohol is used to manufacture around nine litres of Indian manufactured liquor (IML) and these additional products are not considered while making payments to farmers, he added.

While Mr Ramesh Kumar wanted the government to take over sugar factories, Mr Kumaraswamy was worried if sugar factory owners may create problems in the next sugarcane season.

“The sugarcane harvest this year is over 600 lakh tons as against 480 lakh tons last year. Last year, the minister said it is difficult to take strong action against factories as they may stop crushing sugar. The government must have a plan to ensure crushing of sugarcane do not stop,” Mr Kumaraswamy said.

JD(S) member Mr N. Cheluvarayaswamy wondered why only sugarcane farmers were committing suicide and not sugar factory owners. “I have been seeing it from childhood. Sugar factory owners have always prospered and some have set up additional sugar factories. It is only when they have to pay farmers that they complain of losses,” he said.